Immune Reaction to Infection Leads to Autism-like Disorders in Mice

Could an immune reaction to a virus cause autism? We still don’t know the answer to that question, but a new study shows that, in mice, infecting a pregnant mother with an artificial virus can spark a chain of events that leads to autism-like disorders in her offspring.

The study, just released on the mBio website, uses mouse models to follow up on previous studies that indicated infecting a mother with any of a wide range of viruses during pregnancy is associated with increased risk for disorders like autism and schizophrenia. In the latest study, De Miranda et al. explored the effects of infection using a totally fabricated double-strand of RNA that mimics a replicating virus.